Whittingham: U-M title quest my 'final challenge'

ORLANDO, Fla. — After Kyle Whittingham stepped down at Utah earlier this month, he left the door open to return to coaching.

He had no idea that within a day, he would get a call about a head coaching vacancy at a school he had admired since he saw the Michigan Wolverines‘ famed winged helmets as a 7-year-old watching college football alone in his living room.

That call set off a series of more calls and conversations, culminating with the 66-year-old Whittingham taking the job at a program where Big Ten championships and College Football Playoff appearances are expected.

“Michigan is a special place — a legitimate opportunity to win a national championship,” Whittingham said. “It has happened here. So, I looked at it as a final challenge.”

That challenge comes two weeks after Whittingham left Utah, where he spent the previous 32 years, including 21 as the head coach while compiling a 177-88 mark. So, yes, it felt a bit odd for him to be wearing a maize and blue polo during his introductory news conference on Sunday in Orlando, where Michigan is in town to play Texas in the Cheez-It Bowl on Wednesday.

Whittingham is under no illusion about what he has walked into, saying he knows the “gist” of what has happened within the program. Earlier this month, coach Sherrone Moore was fired for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, discovered through a university investigation.

Moore faces three criminal charges, including felony third-degree home invasion, for allegedly confronting the staff member at her residence after being fired. Last week, interim coach Biff Poggi called Michigan a “malfunctioning organization” and argued for a culture reset.

Michigan launched an investigation into its football program and the entire athletic department after Moore was fired, including a review of the overall culture, something that athletic director Warde Manuel said Sunday he asked interim president Domenico Grasso to undertake.

“There’s some things that are out there that I can’t comment on, that are untrue, and there may be some things that they find, but that’s why we do an investigation, and I’m very open to that,” Manuel said. “I wanted the cultural analysis to be done to help us get better. Organizations at times, have problems and issues, and we’re going to face them.”

Whittingham said he had “no hesitation” in taking the job with an interim president and ongoing investigations, saying he knew the “general gist” of what transpired but had full faith in the players.

“They are great group of kids,” Whittingham said.

Whittingham, who led the Utes to a 10-2 mark this season, joined Michigan’s team in Orlando to begin getting to know the players and the coaching staff, and he already met with freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood for 45 minutes as he focuses on his biggest priority — roster retention.

He also cracked a few jokes about rival Ohio State, especially since he remains close with former Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer — with whom he worked at Utah. Whittingham said he had spoken to Meyer about the job before adding, “I don’t know if that’s a four-letter word in this room or not.”

Manuel said he has gotten “hundreds” of text messages praising the hire, with some of his former Michigan teammates calling Whittingham a “modern day Bo Schembechler.” Though Whittingham is not a “Michigan Man,” having played at BYU and coached the bulk of his career in Utah, his teams play with trademark toughness and physicality — the way Michigan has traditionally played.

Whittingham said he had heard from a few former Michigan greats but joked he was still waiting on a text from Tom Brady. He reiterated his decision to leave Utah was based on timing and nothing more.

Asked whether the Utah administration had treated him fairly, Whittingham definitively said, “Yes.”

“The administration for my entire time there has been very supportive,” Whittingham said. “They treated me well. Again, it was my decision to step down. I just felt, again, the time was right. I’ve seen too many coaches hang on too long. I contemplated stepping down before last season, but we had such a frustrating season that I could not end on that note. So, I came back, righted the ship so to speak, and got back on track.”

Still, Whittingham said the timing between his decision to step down at Utah and Michigan’s opening was “uncanny.”

“I made a mistake in Utah. They started asking me about retirement, and I started answering questions,” Whittingham said when asked why he wanted to start over at a new school at age 66. “I got a five-year contract. I’m excited about that. I’m 66 — it’s not that old. I feel like I’ve got enough energy and juice to see this through.”